Spectator: Aide-Memoirs

Looking through a box of old pictures is sometimes the best way of bringing the past alive.

In one of my periodic fits of de-cluttering, I stumbled upon a box of old photographs tucked away at the back of my closet. I sat down to take a desultory look – and before I knew it, I was neck-deep in memories, and the clear-out plan had been postponed to another day.